Method of quenching heated surfaces



June 8, 1943.

H. E. SOMES METHOD OF QUENCHING- HEATED SURFACES Filed July '7, 1942- INVENTOR Howard E 5077286 ATTORNEY Patented June 8 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD OF QUENoniNG HEATED summons 7 Howard E. Somes, Detroit, Mich, assignor to Budd Induction Heating, I nc., Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Michigan Application July '2, 1942,8erial No. 450,035 2 Claims. (01. 148-19.!

This application is a continuation-in-part of my earlier application Serial No. 250,298, filed January 11, 1939.

This invention relates to a method of quench ing heated surfaces for thepurpose of hardening them. Although itv is.particularly adapted to quenching the inner surfacesof cylinders, hub boresand the like, it will be apparent that its use is not limited to any. specifictype of surface,

but that the inventioncan be employed in quenching substantially any surface configura-' 'tion.

An object is to provide a method of quenching that, in operation, the entirejarea-of the heated the heated surface of a workpiece, of such char-.

acter as to provide an accurate control of the hardening operation so that the pattern-o! hardness imparted to the surface can be conformed to any predetermined character of uniformity or non-uniformity.

A further object is to provide a method of quenching the heated surface 'of a workpiece which provides a controllable distribution of the coolant and, if desired, of its hardening efiect.

' In general, the present invention accomplishes.

these objects by subjecting substantially the entire area of a heated surface to the simultaneous surface is subjected simultaneously to impingement by the coolant, and the ports are so formed that the area of the surface impinged upon by'. each stream complements and abuts the areas -impinged upon by the adjacent streams, as illus hardening action to produce a surface having direct impingement of separate streams of coolant and so regulating the relative volumes and velocities of the different streams as toproduce any desired distribution of the coolant over the workpiece. By suitably regulating the volumes and velocities of the separate streams relatively to each other, any predetermined hardening effect can be attained, either a substantially uniformly hardened surface or a surface havingdifferent degreesof hardness in diilerent areas, in accord withany predetermined pattern.

The accompanying drawing illustrates one form of apparatus, a quenching head, by which the objects of the present; invention can be attrated diagrammatically in Figures 3 and 4. With the ports arranged in'this manner the volume and velocity of each stream may beso controlled as to enable accurate control of the substantially any predetermined pattern of hardness. f

For this purpose the metering pin 12 is formed 7 so as to progressively constrict the bore of the tubular member from the first row of ports adjacent the open end to the ports nearest the closed end. In the illustrated embodiment, the constrictions are produced by successive sections 29 of the pin 01 progressivelyincreasing diameter,

- the first section having the smallest diameter being positioned in the bore of the tubular member above the first row of ports 24;, Each section 29 of the pin extends from a position opposite one setof ports to a position adjacent the next exceeding row and the successive sections are connected-byshort conical faces 30 As a retained, but it will be apparent that other specific arrangements of apparatus can be employed. Inthe drawings Figure 1 is a sectional view through one em bodiment of *aquenching nozzle adapted to be used in carrying out the present method;

Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view on an enlarged s'cale taken on theline 2-4 1;. and

- Figures 3 and 4 are diagrammatic views showof Figure ing onespacing of'nozzle ports which I'have found successful in actual operation.

The particularform of nozzle illustrated comprises a tubular member 10 having a'metering pin I 2 therein. The nozzle is open at oneend salt, the cross-sectional area of the annular passage formed by the pin is reduced by a certain amount as indicated at 32, again reduced by a definite amount at, again at '36 and so on.

By this arrangement the-flow of coolant to the variousrcws of ports can be closely regulated so long as the necessary supply pressure on the coolant is maintained. In order tov reduce turbulence within the. nozzle and contribute to the flow of large quantities oi! coolant through the ports, as required in quenching, an annular groove 40 is iormed in the member l0 communi cating with the ports in each row. Each groove has a sloping entering contour 42 and a curved face 44 tangent to the adjacent walls of the 'associated ports, and terminating in a ridge I I so placed as to direct the axial flow of coolant the, associated conical surface 29.

The present invention is particularly adaptedto quenching when the workpiece 50 and the quenching nozzle are relatively stationary dur-' ing the quenching operation. I In accordance with the present method, coolant flowing into tubular member will have predetermined portions diverted from the mainstream at successive discharge ports and the associated parts of the nozzle are so constructed and arranged as to direct streams of coolant upon the heated surface with such relative volumes and velocities as to produce any predetermined hardening effect thereon. For example, the volume and velocity of each stream may' be such that the extraction of heat from the entire surface is substantially uniform so as to produce a substantially uniformly hardened surface. On the other. hand, control of the streams may be such that the extraction of heat from certain predetermined portions of the heated surface will be slower than from others to produce a variably hardened surface in accordance with any predetermined pattern of hardness. At all times, however, for maximum efliciency, the streams are so controlled and directed that the distance A between the centers of the streams at the heated surface, and their operation is such that the surface area impinged upon by each stream complements and abuts the area impinged upon by the adjacent streams so that every portion of the heated surface is subject to direct impingement by the coolant, as indicated diagrammatically As illustrated, each ,ridge 4' is located adjacent thelarge'r end of scope of the appending claims without departmm; m the spirit of the invention. v

t is claimed is: 1. The method of quenching aheated surf which consists in separating a stream of quench- I ing fluid into a plurality of separate streams,

directing said streams against said surface from a distance substantially in excess of that needed for the removal of quenching fluid after its impingement -on said surface, directing said streams simultaneously against the surface in such spaced relationship as to cause quenching fluid to impinge directly on substantially all in Figures 3 and 4 in which the workpiece is shown as a portion of an inner cylindrical surface. As shown in Figures 3 and 4, each stream center is equi-distant from the centers of each adjacent stream.

It will be apparent that the present method can be carried out by other forms of apparatus than that illustrated, and that it is capable of being variously modified and adapted within the parts of said surface with the center of each stream at the point of impingement substantial ly equally spacedfrom the center of each adiace nt stream and controlling the quantity and velocity of said streams so that each stream delivers that-quantity of quenching fluid per unit of time which equates the extraction of heat per unit of area per unit of time from that surface area upon which a stream impinges with the extraction of heat fromeach other unit of area upon which the other streams impinge.

2. The method of quenching a heated surface which consists of separating astream of quenching fluid into a plurality of separate streams, directing said streams against said-surface from a distance substantially in excess of that needed for the removal of quenching fluid after its impingement on said surface, directing said stream simultaneously against said surface in such spaced relationship as to cause quenching fluid to impinge directly on substantially all parts of said surface with the center of each stream at the point of impingement substantially equally spaced from the center of each adjacent stream,

and controlling the quantity and velocity of said HOWARD E. soMEs; 

